Goldman's board has directed new public relations chief Jake Siewert to begin to reshape Blankfein's image--battered and bruised by three years of bad publicity and Blankfein's uneven performances before Congressional committees investigating the firm's role in the financial crisis.

According to people close to the firm, Siewert understands the difficulty in creating a new image for Blankfein and the necessity of the task: Goldman's board believes it has no choice but to keep Blankfein in the job to prevent a civil war between competing factions at the firm, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

As one senior Goldman executive told FOX Business: "There will be all-out war if Lloyd leaves now."